Cabs, Uber, BlueIndy, others help fill Indianapolis International Airport's coffers

When the BlueIndy car-sharing service opens a station at Indianapolis International Airport with 20 spaces at the end of the year, the location should prove lucrative for the fledgling operation.

The station will be four times as large as the electric-car service's other stations, and company officials expect the vehicles to be heavily used because of their relative low cost compared with other means of transportation to the airport.

BlueIndy's presence also will be a sweet deal for the airport. It's another revenue producer from travel unrelated to airplanes, what airports call "ground transportation."

Indeed, airports collect a tidy sum on the ground. At the Indianapolis airport, 30 percent of its $142.5 million in revenues last year were from transportation services, such as taxis and rental cars, and parking. Most of the rest of the airport's revenues come from fees it charges airlines, including a surcharge for each ticket sold, and vendors.

In short, if you go to the airport on four wheels, the airport has figured out a way to squeeze some dollars from your trip. Taxis, limos, shuttle buses, vans, rental car companies, even Uber and Lyft all pay a fee to the airport to operate there.

The fees are different for each service, depending on how much of the airport facility they need to use and how long they need to stay, said airport general counsel Joe Heerens.

"The law allows airports to impose different fees on different types of businesses," he said. "We make a lot of distinctions in our rates and charges ordinance between different types of businesses that operate here. "

Taxis are stationed at the airport and pay a $1,000 yearly fee plus $1 a ride. But Uber and Lyft swing into the airport after being called and don't have an annual fee. They do, however, pay more per ride: $2.50.

BlueIndy's fee is $6 per trip, much higher than that of cabs, and is passed on as a surcharge to the customers. That means anytime you take a BlueIndy car from the airport station or lock one up there you will be charged an additional $6 on top of the rental rate paid. That $6 goes straight to airport coffers.

BlueIndy general manager Scott Prince said the surcharge amount was well worth the perch at the airport. The car service is a venture by the Bolloré Group of France.

"For us this is a huge asset that unlocks a lot of value for this whole concept," he said. "Users can get to the airport for $10, which is cheaper than most other ways except walking."

The cars will be on the fifth floor of the parking garage. Construction was delayed a month because the airport is doing construction on a large canopy on the roof.

In all, the airport collected $650,389 in ground transportation fees in 2014.  Rental cars paid the airport $9.4 million, and the airport collected $43.5 million in parking fees.

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @John_Tuohy.

Airport ground fees

Here are some of the fees collected from ground transportation services at Indianapolis International Airport:

• Taxicabs: $1 per trip.

• Limousine-sedans, Uber and Lyft: $2.50 per trip.

• Rental cars: $4 per rental.

• Vans: $5 per trip.

• BlueIndy electric-car share: $6 per trip.

• Minibus:  $8.50 per trip.

• Charter bus:  $15 per trip. 

• Hotel vehicles: 75 cents per trip.

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